Medaka Box [Manga]

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by MD84

And yet other characters in the manga call him "Medaka's sacrifice". Akune is even siding with Zenkichi because he respects his decision to finally start living for himself instead of living for Medaka. TBF, they are biased in his favor.

Everyone respects his decision. Even Medaka.

I'm not sure why people are trying to antagonize one side or another.

[MD84]

Originally Posted by Clarste

Everyone respects his decision. Even Medaka.

I'm not sure why people are trying to antagonize one side or another.

For me, it's because of the beatdowns. They may have been necessary, but seeing the MC beating the crap out of her friend just struck a nerve.

[Tenchi Hou Take]

That and the general way she discovered he was going to oppose her and then beat him down in in order to create an interesting opponent. Meaning she wasn't really helping him at all considering he had chosen to oppose her anyway so she really just wanted an opponent.

She just seems far too eager to have him as an opponent which just seems wrong.

[Clarste]

Remember when Zen punched himself in the face rather than make the excuses he naturally thought of? I wish more people in this thread thought like that.

[Tenchi Hou Take]

Originally Posted by Clarste

Remember when Zen punched himself in the face rather than make the excuses he naturally thought of? I wish more people in this thread thought like that.

But if people shut up about this discussion what would there be to talk about in this manga. There really isn't all that much...

[Sol Falling]

Originally Posted by Tenchi Hou Take

But if people shut up about this discussion what would there be to talk about in this manga. There really isn't all that much...

lol, there is a ton of other shit we could talk about other than Medaka and Zen. Kumagawa, Kikaijima, Akune, Ajimu, the Not Equals, Tsurubami, Munakata, etc. etc. The anime and rankings too. I sure posted a couple dozen novels in here which might've been pointless if this chapter would've convinced people to see Medaka as sympathetic by themselves anyway, but there's no way that the current state of the manga is lacking for topics of discussion.

[yuzen003]

Feel free to start talking about one of those other topics, but are any of them divisive enough to really spark much discussion?

[Sol Falling]

Originally Posted by yuzen003

Feel free to start talking about one of those other topics, but are any of them divisive enough to really spark much discussion?

Heh, if we stop hogging the thread for a while I'm sure people will pop in with stuff about whatever they feel like.

[MD84]

So, anyone else wondering what the deal with Tsurabami is anyway? Is that combat clairvoyance of his an Abnormality/Skill combo, or something he developed through training? Is he even an Abnormal at all, or just a really badass Normal that is close to fitting whatever criteria defines an MC in the Medaka Box universe? Could the whole reason he's cooperating with Ajimu be that he hopes to find a way to bridge the small but insurmountable gap between himself and Medaka?

[Guernsey]

What is this whole Main Character thing about anyway? On a meta level?

[MD84]

Assuming it's not just a load of bullcrap that Ajimu came up with to manipulate everyone, it seems to be a fate/destiny thing.

[silver001]

So basically Medaka, if the guess is that Akune finally grew a pair is true, that would mean she is all alone. Doesn't that ring like a final boss kinda of thing? I mean the villain usually loses all their partners and they are usually by themselves when the hero goes to fight him/her/it.

Originally Posted by Guernsey

What is this whole Main Character thing about anyway? On a meta level?

The MC is someone that the author tends to protect with plot armor. No matter how bad things look, in the back of your mind you know the main character is going to succeed eventually. For example if superman is fighting a villain in a superman comic book, you know that even if his opponent had a million billion kajillion pounds of kryptonite he villain is probably still going to lose. he might initially succeed with his evil plan but somehow superman is going to comeback even if the author has to bend the massage the story.

TL;DR
MC is the only that cannot lose at the END of a story in terms of Shonen Jump, no matter how unlikely the scenario is. to an extreme like that stupid show Road runner, no matter how sound that coyote's plan is, it usually backfires (part of me was glad when another show made an episode of it when he finally succeeds).

well thats how i see it. but mine might be a little different from everybody else.

[MD84]

Originally Posted by silver001

The MC is someone that the author tends to protect with plot armor. No matter how bad things look, in the back of your mind you know the main character is going to succeed eventually. For example if superman is fighting a villain in a superman comic book, you know that even if his opponent had a million billion kajillion pounds of kryptonite he villain is probably still going to lose. he might initially succeed with his evil plan but somehow superman is going to comeback even if the author has to bend the massage the story.

Of course, every now and then the writer does something shocking like kill/cripple the MC. Superman's mutual kill vs. Doomsday, Bane breaking Batman's back, Goku sacrificing himself to save the Earth from Cell, etc. These are always undone in some way in a future storyline, but it happens.

[Guernsey]

Originally Posted by silver001

So basically Medaka, if the guess is that Akune finally grew a pair is true, that would mean she is all alone. Doesn't that ring like a final boss kinda of thing? I mean the villain usually loses all their partners and they are usually by themselves when the hero goes to fight him/her/it.



The MC is someone that the author tends to protect with plot armor. No matter how bad things look, in the back of your mind you know the main character is going to succeed eventually. For example if superman is fighting a villain in a superman comic book, you know that even if his opponent had a million billion kajillion pounds of kryptonite he villain is probably still going to lose. he might initially succeed with his evil plan but somehow superman is going to comeback even if the author has to bend the massage the story.

TL;DR
MC is the only that cannot lose at the END of a story in terms of Shonen Jump, no matter how unlikely the scenario is. to an extreme like that stupid show Road runner, no matter how sound that coyote's plan is, it usually backfires (part of me was glad when another show made an episode of it when he finally succeeds).

well thats how i see it. but mine might be a little different from everybody else.

Originally Posted by MD84

Of course, every now and then the writer does something shocking like kill/cripple the MC. Superman's mutual kill vs. Doomsday, Bane breaking Batman's back, Goku sacrificing himself to save the Earth from Cell, etc. These are always undone in some way in a future storyline, but it happens.

That sort of thing doesn't usually happen in Shonen Jump though.

So that is what the main character thing in regards to Zenikchi and medaka? I guess it makes sense. It is pretty much a given that main character is going to win no matter what but who will be the main of thsi series?

[MD84]

Originally Posted by Guernsey

It is pretty much a given that main character is going to win no matter what but who will be the main of thsi series?

And that, if Ajimu can be trusted, is why she wants Zenkichi to oppose Medaka by becoming the MC. She can't do it, Kumagawa -- a designated "Final Boss" -- can't do it, but Zenkichi -- with the aid of the Flask Plan, the entire purpose of which is to give side characters a shot at becoming the MC -- can do it.

[DawnEmperor]

Personally, I see the main character as a simple role at its base. This is is just your lead character, the character you place your empathy on. Someone who gets slightly more prominence than others. The story is usually about their struggle, or at least the most important storyline. However, the story is not required to revolve around them. Ultimately, everyone's a protagonist; the author just chooses to focus on a certain character, or an ensemble of them. For example, Spike is usually considered to be the protagonist of Cowboy Bebop, but it can be argued that there's no true main character. Spike's just the most memorable.

Despite the association with the role of MC with plot armor, success, etc., there are heroes that fail almost all the time. What often frustrates me is that the role of MC becomes literally, "this character is the CENTER of EVERYTHING". Everyone knows this character, or values them, antagonizes them. Nisio is poking fun at this concept. Medaka Box allows people to contemplate what makes someone the main character. The fact that some people still consider Zenkichi the main character regardless of all the "Plot Armor" and "Heroism" shows just how fickle the characteristics can be. And it's not because of sexism, since there are those who consider Lucy the main character of Fairy Tail.

Main characters are twisted into godlike invincible beings, when really, it can be a matter of character focus. For me that is.

[Tenchi Hou Take]

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

lol, there is a ton of other shit we could talk about other than Medaka and Zen. Kumagawa, Kikaijima, Akune, Ajimu, the Not Equals, Tsurubami, Munakata, etc. etc. The anime and rankings too. I sure posted a couple dozen novels in here which might've been pointless if this chapter would've convinced people to see Medaka as sympathetic by themselves anyway, but there's no way that the current state of the manga is lacking for topics of discussion.

Lol those are all boring topics with not much to discuss, there's a reason why noone is talking about them at least for any extended lengths of time and it's the same for the vast majority of forums I've visited. Heck the primary reason for the recent up turn in Medaka topics in general is because of this battle. There's no real extended amount of development to any of those topics because there hasn't been an extended amount of interesting character developments for either of those characters aside from Tsurubami whose a bit of athe new wild and there's too little information to formulate about Aijimu.

[Not Somebody]

I don't have any other description of Zen, so I guess sacrifice will suffice I suppose.

If the Flask Plan is for changing your destiny, then why does it have to be Zen, why would she choose Zen. What reason is there to support Zen wholeheartedly, out of all the other characters. Koga's abnormal drive to be Abnormal would work splendidly, Kumagawa is Kumagawa, and this Tsurubami guy is already close to being the main character, or closer than normal. It should be able to change any of those destinies into main character. Do they have to have had close proximity to the main character for an extended period of time? Is he just gonna be an amalgamation of Main Character traits, absorbing some from Tsurubami, then absorbing some of Medakas? How do they plan to make the Flask plan even work?

We'll probably find out more about what defines a main character the closer Zen gets to it, or strives towards it.

What happened to Munakata in the raws anyway, he just poofed in 121, and he's still gone even though he went to Ajimu, but somehow Zen shook Tsurubami faster, or something, and got to Ajimu first.

And what are Medaka's current objectives? Are the treasure hunt games going to continue, or are the future Medaka's ready? Are we going to see Zen participating in those any more?

So many questions, so few chapters.

[Takigashima]

i consider both Medaka box and Fairy tail a dual MC story.

[Odd]

Originally Posted by Not Somebody

I don't have any other description of Zen, so I guess sacrifice will suffice I suppose.

If the Flask Plan is for changing your destiny, then why does it have to be Zen, why would she choose Zen. What reason is there to support Zen wholeheartedly, out of all the other characters. Koga's abnormal drive to be Abnormal would work splendidly, Kumagawa is Kumagawa, and this Tsurubami guy is already close to being the main character, or closer than normal. It should be able to change any of those destinies into main character. Do they have to have had close proximity to the main character for an extended period of time? Is he just gonna be an amalgamation of Main Character traits, absorbing some from Tsurubami, then absorbing some of Medakas? How do they plan to make the Flask plan even work?

We'll probably find out more about what defines a main character the closer Zen gets to it, or strives towards it.

What happened to Munakata in the raws anyway, he just poofed in 121, and he's still gone even though he went to Ajimu, but somehow Zen shook Tsurubami faster, or something, and got to Ajimu first.

And what are Medaka's current objectives? Are the treasure hunt games going to continue, or are the future Medaka's ready? Are we going to see Zen participating in those any more?

So many questions, so few chapters.

It's because the Flask Plan is also built for "normal's" to become perfect beings and all of the people you mentioned obviously have some sort of abnormality; Koga's got an abnormal recovery rate (and she's already abnormal so her desire is gone), Kumagawa's a minus and we don't know much about Tsurubami but it's obvious he has a skill/ability.

Also, I think it's because Zen's desire to stay next to Medaka is much greater than any other characters desires (whatever they may be) so he may be more suitable to go through the plan.